INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Jim O’Brien was hired Thursday as coach of the Indiana Pacers, who turned to an NBA veteran in hopes of reviving a team that missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade and has been beset by turmoil.
The announcement ends a five-week search that began with the firing of Rick Carlisle after four seasons.
O’Brien previously coached in Boston and Philadelphia, compiling a 182-158 record in five seasons. He has been out of coaching since he was fired by the 76ers after the 2005 season.
Pacers president Larry Bird said he had talked with O’Brien during the past 10 days about the job.
“It came down to we needed a guy with experience in here. A guy who I think I’m going to be on the same page with to do the things necessary to take us to the next level,” Bird said. “I’ve got the right man for the right job.”
O’Brien had been writing for ESPN.com the past two years, but he expected to return to coaching.
“I knew shortly after I left Philadelphia that I wasn’t going to be out of coaching long if I had anything to do with it,” he said. “I was hoping to get an opportunity like this.”
Indiana finished out the playoffs with a 35-47 record this year. The team has been in disarray since the November 2004 brawl between Pacers players and Pistons fans – months after the Pacers had finished with the NBA’s best record and reached the Eastern Conference finals.
Bird has said he is willing to trade anyone on the team, including All-Star forward Jermaine O’Neal.
The Pacers don’t have a pick in the upcoming draft, though chief executive Donnie Walsh has said the team will maneuver to get one. Bird said O’Brien will have input on upcoming personnel decisions.
O’Brien had a 43-39 record in his single season at Philadelphia, a 10-win improvement from the year before, leading the team back to the playoffs. O’Brien, though, wasn’t popular with his players, who often complained about their roles.
O’Brien also coached the Celtics from 2001-04 after the departure of Rick Pitino. Before that, he was an assistant with Boston and New York Knicks.
Carlisle had a 181-147 record with the Pacers, but his time was overshadowed with player troubles. The Pacers dealt with long suspensions of Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson, the two most prominent players in the 2004 brawl, and ended up trading both players.
Jackson and point guard Jamaal Tinsley both face felony charges in separate nightclub fights during the past year – behavior which Bird has called an embarrassment to the team.
O’Brien said his team will play the brand of basketball Pacers fans expect.
“We will practice hard,” he said. “Discipline and organization is a cornerstone of any basketball team at any level, and certainly, our guys will know what we want of them.”
During their lengthy coaching search, the Pacers brass interviewed former Miami coach Stan Van Gundy twice and later interviewed Chicago assistant Jim Boylan twice. They also interviewed current assistant coaches Johnny Davis and Chuck Person.
Indiana was the only team O’Brien spoke with about a head coaching position.
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